


Blue Eyes

by faerierequiem



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-25 20:51:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6209680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faerierequiem/pseuds/faerierequiem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>first part: ‘We have matching backpacks and I think I grabbed yours on accident??’<br/>second part: “i forgot my umbrella and you offered to walk me home in the rain and i thought this would be the beginning of a cute love story but you’re really shit at this oh my god my shoulder is so wet, hold the damn thing properly wth man”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“The research proposal is due next Thursday! See you all next week!”

As soon as the words left Mrs. Kim’s mouth, the whole class became a frenzy of students collecting class supplies and retrieving backpacks to leave the computer lab. Noah was one of the first to arrive where the backpacks were piled up against one corner of the room. Quickly, he grabbed his bag. He could recognize that Murder Squash button pin anywhere. It had cost him the modest price of a simple dime (not including the $7.99 shipping cost).

He put on his backpack as he left the room and made his way to the library. It was time to get all his homework out of the way. The luxury of a stress-free, three-day weekend came with a price, but it was worth it.

When Noah arrived at the library, he found himself a seat at a table amongst the many other students. He shrugged off his backpack and placed it on the table, taking out his textbooks and notebooks and setting them down near the edge of the table. He frowned and stuck his face into his backpack. Where had his Nintendo 3DS gone? He needed to check up on rather or not Tom Nook had sold him that couch.

Just as Noah was about to look through the other pockets, he heard a snort and looked up in time to see a pair of guys passing by. The guy who had snorted looked at him in amusement, but he didn’t say anything as they walked away.

Then, Noah noticed a girl sitting at the nearby table with a wide-eyed expression on her face. Her stare was directed down to where his schoolbooks laid.

Confused, Noah looked down. A small squeak leapt from his mouth as shock and understanding flooded into him. There on the table laid not a pile of notebooks, but issues of _Playgirl_. And on the very front cover of the top-most magazine, a completely naked, muscular model smiled up at him, his family jewels covered by nothing but soap suds.

_Oh my god._

Quickly, Noah stuffed the _Playgirl_ s back into his— _no_ , someone else’s backpack. He wanted to say something to the girl, but embarrassment prevented him and he diverted his face away.

A muffled ringtone sounded from one of the backpack pockets. Nervously, Noah found it and checked the number. Even when he recognized his own number glowing back at him, he hesitated a moment before answering the call.

“H—Hello?”

For a few nerve-wracking seconds, the person on the other end didn’t say anything. “I think you took my backpack.”

The discovery of the voice belonging to a guy barely registered in his mind as Noah’s eyes flickered back towards the backpack, the image of the smiling _Playgirl_ model still in his memory. “Yeah, I think I did.”

“Is…?” the guy paused. “Do you think maybe I could meet you somewhere, so that we can, you know, get our own backpacks?”

“Sure.” Zipping up the backpack and slinging it over one shoulder, Noah got up from the table and hurried towards the doors of the library. “Where are you right now?”

“I’m outside the computer lab.”

“Okay, I’ll head over there.” Noah hung up, putting the phone back into its original place, and slipping on the remaining backpack strap. He thought of all the guys in his English class. He barely knew anyone in the class anyways, and the few guys he remembered the faces of he wouldn’t have penned as the _Playgirl_ type. To be fair, none of them probably would have been able to guess that he’d been sneaking glances at fellow classmate, Ronan, ever since the beginning of the semester.

At the thought of Ronan, Noah couldn’t help but wonder, _what if the backpack belongs to him?_ He pondered over the idea, not sure if it was wishful thinking or not wishful thinking.

He entered the university building and began making his way up the stairs to the second floor where the computer lab was located. As he neared the hallway, Noah gripped at the backpack straps. If Ronan freaking Lynch was standing outside the lab, he was going to fall on his face.

Noah turned the corner.

Ronan freaking Lynch was standing outside the lab.

Noah came to a halt. He didn’t fall on his face. Instead, he spun around and walked back around the corner. His heart thudded at his eardrums and he could feel his palms going sweaty. He gulped. There was no way… _No_ —

“Hey!”

Noah flinched as Ronan fell into place beside him.

Discreetly out the corner of his eyes, Noah found himself looking down at blue jeans. Slowly, he looked up and _yes way_ , it was Ronan freaking Lynch standing there, holding Noah’s backpack against his chest.

Neither of them moved.

Then, Ronan held out Noah’s backpack. “Noah, right?”

Noah found himself mumbling some incoherent reply of confirmation. He took off Ronan’s backpack and switched it for his.

“Thanks,” Ronan said.

Noah murmured something else. It might have been a “no problem”, he wasn’t sure.

Softly, Ronan swore, almost as if to himself. That was enough to snap Noah out of his stupor and he glanced up to find Ronan with an almost ill expression on his face.

“Um, if you saw the things inside my backpack,” Ronan began, “I just want to let you know that Gansey, my friend, he was the one who gave them to me. I didn’t, uh, buy them myself or anything.” He turned his face to the side. “Of all days for this happen… I’m sorry. They’ll probably scar you for life.”

“It’s not—!” Noah blurted out, and then he faltered, because Ronan’s surprised blue eyes were on him.

Noah eyed the ground, finding more courage when he wasn’t aware of Ronan freaking Lynch acknowledging his existence. “It’s not,” he said, “like it’s something I haven’t…willingly looked up before.”

The silence afterwards was heavy enough that if it had hit Noah on the head, he would’ve been knocked out for days—maybe even permanently. If only that were possible. It would be better than this. Noah’s face burned. He couldn’t believe himself, couldn’t believe that he had said those words out loud. He might as well have told Ronan that he wished it was him on the _Playgirl_ cover while he was at it.

Without another stupid word, Noah speed-walked away and tore down the stairs faster than he’d ever had before. It wasn’t until he was out of the building that Noah realized he’d be seeing Ronan the next time they had class—that is, if Ronan didn’t come and demand that he drop the class.

“Noah! Noah, wait!”

_Oh god._

Noah braced himself as Ronan caught up to him.

“Jesus, you’re a fast walker! I space out for only a second and you’re already outside,” Ronan joked.

At the lighthearted tone of his voice, Noah slowly risked making eye-contact. To his surprise, Ronan was smiling.

Ronan pulled off one of his backpack straps and turned it to open the main pocket. “If you ever want to, you can borrow it,” he said. And then he began to reach into his backpack…

Noah’s eyes widened in bewilderment. “What? No. I—” Helplessly, he broke off, holding his breath, preparing himself for the sight of a _Playgirl_ being pulled out in public, except when Ronan withdrew his hand, he was holding not an issue, but an album of…

“You got _all_ the Murder Squash song remixes?” Noah cried. Without thinking, he grabbed the album from Ronan’s hands. “This is a limited copy! How’d you get it?”

Ronan shrugged. “Money.”

“ _Lots_ of money, you mean,” Noah corrected. He turned the album around in his hands in awe and scanned the tracklist. “Wow! This even has the Glitter Remix! I’ve only been able to hear badly pirated versions of it on the internet!”

Ronan laughed. “The Glitter Remix is amazing! You have to listen to it on headphones. It’s life-changing.”

“So I can burrow it right now?” Noah asked. Eagerly, he looked up from the album.

“Yeah, of course,” Ronan said, nodding. “Just don’t damage it, please.”

“Oh, I won’t!” Noah promised. “I’ll treat this thing like the expensive thing it is.”

“Cool.” Ronan grinned. “And hey, you could also burrow”—he titled his head towards his backpack.

Noah blushed. “It’s—I’m good.” _If it had you on it, then I would._

“Well, in case you ever do, you know where to find me.” Ronan zipped up his backpack and winked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you tumblr, check out the fic here: http://faerielament.tumblr.com/post/139895113541/roah-we-have-matching-backpacks-and-i-think-i ~ and reblog/like!


	2. Chapter 2

The numbers on the page were beginning to turn into symbols of suffering and pain. That’s when Noah knew that he’d done enough math for the day, but he didn’t tell Ronan right away. Instead, he sneaked a peek at the dark-haired boy sitting next to him and held back a smile.

Ever since the backpack incident that had occurred last month, Ronan had started to hang out with him during class—much to Noah’s excitement. They’d bonded over a mutual understanding of the cultural phenomenon that was the Murder Squash song, and when they’d discovered they shared not only a similar taste in music, but also humor, it had led to a lot of laughter and foolery during class, which then led to laughter and foolery outside of class. Even now, Noah fondly recalled the day when Ronan had first asked him for his number and later texted him if he wanted to hang out. Of course he’d said “yes” and they had participated in a game of paintball.

However, today they were not getting shot at by capsules of paint. Ever since he’d heard about Noah’s Thursday schoolwork sessions, Ronan had begun to join him in the library—much to Noah’s excitement. It’d been at least five hours since they’d sat down and four and half hours since they’d actually started working productively.

Noah glanced out the window. When he saw that the clouds that’d gathered earlier had turned gray and stormy, he knew it was time to call it a day.

“Are you finished with your assignments?” he asked Ronan.

Ronan looked up from his textbook and focused his attention on Noah. “Almost,” he said. “Are you?”

Even in the dimness of the library, Ronan’s blue eyes had Noah at a loss for words. He wasn’t sure how much time he would need to get used to making eye-contact with Ronan. Sometimes it was bearable, but other times, he needed a moment to remember how to communicate verbally.

“Um, yeah.” Noah nodded and then quickly corrected himself, “Well, I’m mostly done. All I have left is some math homework, but I can finish that tomorrow or something.” He pointed towards the windows. “And it looks like it’s going to rain.”

To Noah’s relief, Ronan broke their eye-contact to observe the weather. “Whoa, you’re right,” he said. “It’s probably going to pour buckets.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Noah was half-aware of the thought to agree or at least reply, but at the sight of Ronan outlined against the muddled brightness that came through the window, he fell silent. He stared along Ronan’s jawline and risked a quick glance at his lips before looking away, his heart pounding fast. _Maybe I’ll tell him today._

“So,” Ronan turned back from his weather-observation, “we’re done for today?”

 _No._ “Yeah.” _I’d spend the whole day with you if you let me._ “I’m ready whenever you’re ready,” Noah said.

Ronan closed his textbook. “I can finish this chapter up at Monmouth.”

As they gathered up their things, Noah asked, “So how did you read? Uh, I mean, how was the reading? Was it interesting?”

“It was about as interesting as cell division can get,” Ronan said. “But there are worst ways to bore myself.”

“Like what?” Noah asked.

“There’s my older brother for one,” Ronan said. “He’s the cure to insomnia. He could put anyone to sleep.”

Noah laughed.

They started for the library doors. As they neared closer, the sound of the rainfall became audible, and Noah found himself gaping at the downpour. Without an umbrella, he was definitely going to be drenched within seconds.

“Maybe we should wait this out,” he suggested just as Ronan said, “Hey, I have an umbrella. I can walk you if you want.”

There was a slight pause.

“What did you say?” Ronan asked.

Immediately, Noah answered, “Nothing. I said nothing. Let’s go.” The thought of walking with Ronan underneath an umbrella overruled any other possibility by a landslide.

“Let me get my umbrella out first,” Ronan said, amused.

Noah blushed. “Sure thing.”

As he waited for Ronan to get out his umbrella, Noah felt his thoughts floating miles up into the sky. He imagined scenarios where he actually managed to tell Ronan how he felt, imagined Ronan dropping the umbrella and kissing him in the rain, imagined the way Ronan would feel wrapped inside his arms… _Oh my god, it would be like the start of some cute love story._ My _cute love story._

“Czerny?”

Noah blinked.

Ronan was peering at him in curiosity. “I don’t know what you’re thinking about, but judging by the small smile on your face, it’s probably something diabolical,” he said.

“Oh yeah. Real dark stuff.” Noah nodded, unable to stop himself from edging a bit away from Ronan and his uncomfortably all-too-knowing eyes.

A side of Ronan’s mouth quirked upwards. “It’s always the quiet ones.”

Noah wanted to give Ronan a little shove in the arm, respond to the joke in a normal way, but that meant touching him, so instead he clenched his fingers together and said, “We should get going.” At this, he let out an internal sigh, frustrated. What a lame move.

Luckily, Ronan didn’t seem to notice. “I’ll go out first,” he said.

Noah held the door for him as Ronan opened up his umbrella and stepped out under it. Moving quick, Noah joined him. He was immediately aware of how, in order for both of them to fit underneath the umbrella, his shoulder pressed up against Ronan’s arm. At the close proximity, he felt a conflicting mix of gratitude and distress.

As they began walking to Noah’s dorm, the rain began to fall even harder, sounding like TV static turned up to the highest volume. It served as an oddly fitting counterpart to the mess in Noah’s head. He let out a small breath. He’d never be ready, but then again, when it came to Ronan, he was never ready. “Ronan?”

“Yeah?”

“I—” Noah was cut off by a sudden coldness growing on his left shoulder. He looked and saw that Ronan had tilted the umbrella a bit, which was causing rain to fall down onto his shoulder. Discreetly, Noah grabbed the bottom of the handle and righted the umbrella. When that was fixed, he found that his confession had run out the door and Ronan was still waiting on him to say something.

Automatically, he went with the first words that came to mind. “Thanks for walking me.” As soon as the words left his mouth, Noah frowned in disappointment. Of course he was thankful, but that wasn’t the mark he’d wanted to hit.

“Of course,” Ronan said. “Anything I can do for my study buddy.”

“Study buddy?” Noah repeated. A smile overtook his frown.

“What do you think we’ve been doing for the past couple of hours? Looking through _Playgirl_ magazines?” Ronan joked.

At the mention of _Playgirl_ , an embarrassed laugh left Noah, but he went along with it. “We were totally looking at _Playgirl_ magazines,” he said. “And in case you were still wondering: Yes. I still think the cover of issue 15 beats any of the other covers.”

“No, you’re mistaken, Czerny,” Ronan disagreed. “The cover that had the guy with three balls— _that_ one is the real winner here.”

The rain was falling on his shoulder again, but Noah found Ronan’s joke too hilarious to care. He held up a hand to his mouth, trying to suppress his laughter, but in the end, he let the laugh escape, and it was the uncontrollable sort of laughter, where it didn’t matter that he had trouble catching his breath from laughing so hard or that people stared at him as they walked by. It was nice to laugh without any care in the world, and Ronan had a special knack for causing it.

Through the sound of the rain and his own laugh, Noah could hear Ronan laughing along. That combined with him standing so close, Noah wasn’t sure if he could feel any happier than this. Except when he remembered the start of his cute love story. And surprisingly, he felt _almost_ ready, which was miraculous all things considered, but a confession following after a joke about three balls, now was the perfect moment.

Even when he managed to stop laughing, a grin stayed on Noah’s face. He reached up to grab the umbrella pole and righted the umbrella. “Hey, Ronan?”

Ronan was still laughing, but he looked over at Noah, his blue eyes shining. “What is it?”

 _Cute love story. My cute love story. My cute love story with him._ “Ronan, I like—”

As another wave of laughter attacked him, Ronan leaned forward, bringing the umbrella along with him. By the time he stood back up again, Noah had already felt the shock of the rain drenching every part of him that’d been uncovered.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” Ronan asked. He looked over at Noah and Noah saw the way his lips pressed together at the soaked sight of him, trying to hold back his laughter.

Noah narrowed his eyes, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Unable to hold it in any longer, Ronan burst out laughing. “I’m so sorry, Noah! I didn’t mean to.”

Noah seized the opportunity to grab the umbrella pole and struggled to tilt the umbrella as Ronan tightened his grip, still laughing. “What the hell, Ronan!” he cried. “Learn how to hold an umbrella properly. My shoulder kept getting rained on, because of you, and now I’m all wet, _because of you_.”

He gave the umbrella a yank in his direction, watching with relish as the rain claimed Ronan as its next victim.

“Hey!” Ronan ducked under the umbrella.

Noah stiffened as he found himself looking at the side of Ronan’s neck, so close that he was sure Ronan could’ve felt the breath that left him if he’d payed attention. He was half-tempted to lean in and press a kiss below Ronan’s ear.

Being distracted was a big mistake to make.

Ronan took the umbrella from his hands and tossed it to the side, leaving them both standing in the downpour.

Still weary from Ronan’s previous proximity, Noah let out a small, half-hearted laugh. “What was the point of the umbrella again?” he asked.

Ronan grinned. “You tell me.”

Noah shook his head, but as he watched Ronan retrieve the fallen umbrella, his fondness grew. _I really like you._ Softly, he repeated the thought aloud to himself before joining Ronan underneath the umbrella.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you tumblr, check out the fic here: http://faerielament.tumblr.com/post/140749023326/part-1-roah-i-forgot-my-umbrella-and-you ~ and reblog/like!


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